Lisbon

Has anyone booked the ship's shore tours in Lisbon? We are undecided between Obidos or Sintra and Cascais.

Has anyone booked the ship's shore tours in Lisbon? We are undecided between Obidos or Sintra and Cascais.

We went on a Celebrity ship's tour of Sintra and Cascais which we enjoyed immensely. Both towns were pretty and interesting. But, time was limited in each town, so some were disappointed they couldn't stay longer at one or the other. We were happy with the amount of time in each town. Our tour included lunch, which was ok, but not great. I would have preferred to DIY lunch in one of the towns. FYI, the traffic coming back into Lisbon was fierce (we were a little late), so allow plenty of time if you DIY.

Have a great trip!

Both Sintra and Cascais are reachable under 1 hr travel on public transit and cost couple of euros to get there. So why ship tour is necessary? Sintra got castles, 5 or 6 of them which are impossible to visit all in 1 day. Cascais is a pleasant seaside town without any major significant tourist attractions.

You're right and after further research we have decided to take the train to Cascais.

Cascais train stops in Alcantara-Mar station in case your ship docks in Alcantara dock; no need to go back to Cais do Sodre. If it docks any where else then the best way is to start at Cais do Sodre.

If you haven't been to Lisbon before, I would stay in the city. Plenty to see and do there.

As LondonTowner says, if you haven't been to Lisbon before, don't miss the many gems it has to offer. It is a compact easily accessed city with great transport connections. The Hoho bus is very good.

If you have been to Lisbon before my choice of distant excursion would be Sintra - but go by local train, it's easy and cheap. Departures are every 20 minutes or so. When in Sintra either get a taxi from the station to the Palácio Nacional da Pena (Pena Palace) and when you have toured the palace, walk down (10 mins) to the Castelo dos Mouros (Moors Castle). Taxis are frequently dropping people off here and will take you back down to Sintra which is a delightful little town to look around. It is a 20 minute level walk back to the station. This is the way we did it but you could visit the Castle first and then walk to the Palace - there seem to be more visitors here with lots of taxis coming and going. There is a tourist bus no 434 that does a circular route - railway station - Palace - Castle - Sintra - railway station. We didn't use but saw it. http://www.sintra-portugal.com/guides/sintra-bus-434.html

I am naturally averse to cities but after looked at Lisbon more closely I can see it does have a lot to offer so we are now going to stay there.

Thank you to everyone for your advice.

I am naturally averse to cities but after looked at Lisbon more closely I can see it does have a lot to offer so we are now going to stay there.

 

Thank you to everyone for your advice.

Yes Lisbon is interesting. There is an old Tram with a city route that is worth doing - you should find details for that easily. There is also an impressive outdoor lift which is worth going into - we had a nice, decent priced meal near the top of the lift and there is an extremely old church near the top as well. I think we were given city maps when we got into port.

Both the tram and the lift can be used with a day ticket for the public transport, which we bought from a store in the main square by the shuttle bus drop off point. Having said that, Fred did not provide shuttle buses from their docking point last time we were there. We were docked at Santa Appolina (?spelling). We got details easily from a search.

I am naturally averse to cities but after looked at Lisbon more closely I can see it does have a lot to offer so we are now going to stay there.

 

Thank you to everyone for your advice.

Good move, it's a nice city. Ths shows a few of the sights, including the famous no 28 tram. All the best, Tony

[YOUTUBE]z8KoKa6I7y0[/YOUTUBE]

Great video, thanks for that. :)

Has anyone booked the ship's shore tours in Lisbon? We are undecided between Obidos or Sintra and Cascais.

Having been to these places, I can say that they are all good. Obidos is a walled city and great, but Sintra and Cascais are as well.

It is like choosing between Chocolate and Vanilla, both are good.

Thanks for the video. We won't be in port in Lisbon but are traveling there after a transatlantic that ends in Barcelona. We'll have 5 days in Lisbon so hope to see all the areas you showed in your video. Also plan to spend one of those days in Sintra and Cascais. Can't wait!

Thanks for the video. We won't be in port in Lisbon but are traveling there after a transatlantic that ends in Barcelona. We'll have 5 days in Lisbon so hope to see all the areas you showed in your video. Also plan to spend one of those days in Sintra and Cascais. Can't wait!

Thanks (and to nb125 too). 5 days - how lovely, you will be able to have a proper poke around as opposed to my 7 hours :) Just to round up the rest of what we did here are the other 2 vids from that day.

[YOUTUBE]zxEg6kwlF6Y[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]brr-bT0D7fQ[/YOUTUBE]

Criminally, as we spent so long waiting to go up up the Santa Justa elevator (OK but not a 'must do') I didn't have time for one of the legendary Belem pasteis :mad:

Thanks for the video. We won't be in port in Lisbon but are traveling there after a transatlantic that ends in Barcelona. We'll have 5 days in Lisbon so hope to see all the areas you showed in your video. Also plan to spend one of those days in Sintra and Cascais. Can't wait!

If you are going to be in Lisbon for a few days I highly recommend the Segway tour http://www.lisbonsegwaytours.pt/

We did the 3hr 'super tour'. Having done segway tours all over the world, this is one of our top 2. Its a brilliant way to see the city too, what with all those steep hills that you can ride up rather than walk up. If anyone is coming by ship, its just a 15 min walk from the Apolonia terminal.

Simon

We recently used Top Ten Tours in Lisbon, and had a wonderful day. We first visited Sintra and Quinta de Regalaria (Pena palace was also an option). A short stop to enjoy our Sintra pastries, then back to Lisbon. A coffee stop at Belem pastries, and we still had enough time to tour Lisbon's major sights with our driver. With an 8:15 start, we were back on board at 3:30. I hope to use them again in the future to visit Obidos.

Cornishpastyman1

I would also like to thank you for posting your videos, particularly the second two. We have been to Lisbon a number of times, but have not yet made it to Belem or the Castle. Both those places look more impressive than I expected.

Cheers,

Barbara

Have been searching to find easiest way to get into Lisbon from the Port (emerald princess) April 11. So far all have found is a lot of confusion on which train or metro to take into Lisbon. Need to get to Rossio station for the train out to Sintra then tourbus 434.

Has any one does this or has more info. I would sure appreciate some help on this.

Have been searching to find easiest way to get into Lisbon from the Port (emerald princess) April 11. So far all have found is a lot of confusion on which train or metro to take into Lisbon. Need to get to Rossio station for the train out to Sintra then tourbus 434.

Has any one does this or has more info. I would sure appreciate some help on this.

Do you know where your ship will dock? I checked the port of Lisbon and cannot find the Emerald Princess listed for April 11th, 2016. If you can tell us where your ship will dock (Alcantara, Santa Apolonia or Jardim do Tobaco), we can give you specific instructions on getting to Rossio from your cruise terminal.

Have been searching to find easiest way to get into Lisbon from the Port (emerald princess) April 11. So far all have found is a lot of confusion on which train or metro to take into Lisbon. Need to get to Rossio station for the train out to Sintra then tourbus 434.

Has any one does this or has more info. I would sure appreciate some help on this.

Depending on your exact docking location (there are several areas around Lisbon) you will have relatively easy access to either the Tram, Metro, or local buses. And taxis are an option from any docking location. As to Sintra (been there many times) we suggest that once you reach the town (via train) make your first stop the local Tourist Office where you can get the latest bus schedules, opening hours of places, etc. In Sintra we always seem to do a lot of walking...so wear comfy shoes (always a good idea).

Hank

P.S. We did try to look up the scheduled docking position for the 4/11 Emerald Princess...but that info seems to be missing (not that unusual)

And one of the ports is truly an easy walk into Lisbon.

Keith

Emerald Princess in Lisbon on 19-04-2016, 7am to 4pm according to portodelisboa.pt

TA, Emerald Princess 11-04-2016.

Thanks for the port website. I will keep an eye on it to find out which port we are docking at. Been once before went on Hop on Hop off bus that picked us at port terminal. Wife cannot walk into to town if we are at either of the 2 further out ports, and so trying tpo plan ahead to know which station, metro bus to get into town on. I know the train station we want for Sintra is Rossio. We may share a cab ride in might be easiest, but we always try to go the local way, not the tourist way.

Thanks for the replies

Cabs are very reasonable in Lisbon shouldn't be much to Rossio. In Sintra bus is next to rail station. 434 bus goes to Pena Palace and Moors Palace http://www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/ which are on top of the hill. Other palaces Sintra and Regaleira are walking distance from rail station may be 15-20 min

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